https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...ando-socio-minoritario-della-ndrangheta/the interview
De Lucia: «Cosa Nostra is a Minority Member of the 'Ndrangheta»
The prosecutor: «The State can say it is winning against the mafia. But we are in a delicate moment»
Published: 29/08/2024 – 10:12
"The investigations tell us that Cosa Nostra's main problem is to become rich again. The organization is therefore moving towards a series of relationships, even if as a minority partner, but as a partner, with the 'ndrangheta ." This is what the Palermo prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia states in an interview with Repubblica. "To increase that importation of drugs, which is the only real business that allows for rapid and very substantial enrichment. The mafiosi know that only a renewed economic strength will allow for a new military force and the restoration of the conditions for dialogue with the gray area." During the interview, the prosecutor also remembered Libero Grassi , the entrepreneur who refused to pay the pizzo and was killed on August 29, 1991: "He was an extraordinary man," he says, "Libero Grassi was a citizen, not a policeman and a magistrate who takes into account the risks of his job. A citizen who many years later, let's not forget, has become a model for young economic operators who have found the maturity to start a new path, also thanks to the guys from Addiopizzo. But there is still a lot to do, and Libero Grassi's message remains very current".
The investigations on Matteo Messina Denaro
The prosecutor explains the new criminal interests of Cosa Nostra: "Extortion, albeit in a reduced form, remains a point of reference, because the mafia organization needs to stay on the territory through this type of pressure. The investigations have also highlighted infiltration in the world of gaming, a sector in which the clans manage to circulate a lot of money with ease." The attention of the Prosecutor's Office is directed both at new and "old" businesses, with an ongoing search for those who helped Matteo Messina Denaro during his time as a fugitive. " The investigations have never stopped, and now they follow different lines : one of our objectives is to identify and prosecute all those who helped him. Another objective is to reconstruct that incredibly long period of time as a fugitive. Third, we aim to identify Messina Denaro's wealth that still exists. All questions that return to concern the mafia bourgeoisie, that gray area that remains at this time one of the most important fronts of investigation."
The new measures and the fight against the mafia
"Investigations on white-collar crimes are more difficult because it is not possible to use the legislative system that works against the mafia - he continues -, we have different tools, certainly less invasive, but also less effective". There has been a lot of controversy over the abolition of the crime of abuse of office. " Perhaps the abolition of abuse of office will have a symbolic value for some, but we had already intervened in this area. There is a question of more general method - he explains -: the current choices in criminal policies follow one another in a chaotic manner without leaving time for the approved rules to settle. It is difficult for legal practitioners to adapt to changes". To be more effective in investigations on white-collar crimes according to De Lucia from a regulatory point of view "you have to be very cautious especially with regard to wiretaps. Corruption, like the mafia, is a hidden crime that is discovered not because someone tells you, but because you listen to those who commit the crimes". As for the amendment that would reduce wiretaps to 45 days , with this «we risk introducing a worrying element for those who investigate public administration, because it limits them greatly – he continues -. Instead, it would be enough to take note of the fact that wiretaps are already authorized by a third-party judge, in the presence of rigorous requirements». Finally, a reflection. «After a long season, the State can say it is winning against the mafia . But we are in a delicate moment, in which Cosa Nostra is aiming for reorganization – he concludes -. If the State does not continue to invest in this fight, putting the prosecutors in a position to work at full capacity, we risk losing the game we are winning».
